


It's Not What You Think

by Derenieh_Maeverin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cho is a conniving little sneak, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 14:38:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14022417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Derenieh_Maeverin/pseuds/Derenieh_Maeverin
Summary: Grace helps out some Hufflepuffs and sees something that breaks her heart.





	It's Not What You Think

“That was a great lesson, Harry. We’re all learning so much.” Grace said as she moved practice dummies up against the far wall of the hall with a levitation spell. “Did you see Luna’s? I swear that hare was twice the size of last week’s.”

“Yeah. I’m thinking of moving her up to help teach first and second years. I’ve seen a few huddled around her on occasion around the castle.” Harry responded. He was tightening the lids on potions and putting them back up on a shelf. Their chatter continued as they leisurely cleaned up until they heard the door open and footsteps approach.

“Oh, Anna and Julius right? Did you guys forget something?” Grace asked and approached them.

“N-no.” Julius spoke up. “There were some upper-level Slytherins blocking the hall on the way back to the Hufflepuff common room. We were just afraid to walk through, so we just came back here.” Anna nodded as he spoke.

“Sorry about that guys. How about I walk you back to your common room?” Both second years nodded vigorously, making Grace chuckle. She turned back to Harry. “I’ll be right back to help finish up, okay?” 

“Of course.” Harry responded. “Show those Slytherins who’s boss if you have to. And good job with the Riddikulus charm tonight, Julius. Keep up the good work.” The child beamed and Grace and Harry shared a smile before she ushered them out of the room of requirement and to their common room.

Grace rolled her eyes at the antics of Slytherin boys as she walked back to the Room of Requirements. She had sent the young Hufflepuffs forward on their own to cross through their barricade while she hid around a corner. When said Slytherins tried to harass Anna and Julius, Grace took it upon herself to really make them think about their choices in the form of freezing their feet to the ground and dumping huge amounts of water all over them. Of course, Grace didn’t want to get in trouble for making a mess, so she cleaned up all the water, around them with the wave of a hand. But she left them soaking wet.

She was sure that her young Hufflepuff friends were laughing straight into their common room and telling all of their friends.

Grace pulled water from her reservoir to form up a model as she uttered the password and waited for the Room of Requirements to open back up. She managed to form a crude version of Ralph with a sphere of water poised above his head as she took the first few steps into the room. She smiled and looked up to see Harry in the middle of the room, Cho Chang right in front of him. 

Grace watched in slow motion as Cho surged forward and kissed Harry straight on the mouth. And in that moment, she wasn’t focused on anything else. Her water model splashed all over the floor. She turned and ran, hearing Harry’s voice calling after her. She ran tossing gushes of water behind her to try and slow him down, and she didn’t stop until she was in her sleeping quarters with the door closed and pressed against her back.  
After a moment of pause there, she sank to the floor dropping her head into her hands. Her eyes were stinging with the threat of tears as the suspicion that had been festering inside her was fully realized.  
When Hermione walked into room the two girls shared running a towel through her wet hair, she hadn’t expected to see Grace, in tears, on the floor, so she was both surprised and concerned. She walked over to the girl.

“Grace? What’s wrong?”

Grace’s head snapped up and she messily wiped her tears away. She sniffed and tried to compose herself.

“It’s nothing uh...I left Harry to walk some Hufflepuffs back to their common room, and when I came back, he was there...with Cho Chang...and they were kissing.”

“WHAT?!” Hermione practically shrieked. But she went from shocked to blisteringly angry very quickly. “I’m going to KILL HIM!” She stormed over to her bed and tossed on her clothes in a fury, muttering angry words under her breath. “He’s got SOME NERVE! Ooh he’s gonna be SORRY! How DARE he do anything EVER to hurt you? And with that HUSSY??? Cho CHANG?? Really Harry?? What a grimey little-”

“It’s okay Hermione.” Grace interrupted as she pulled herself off the floor. She sighed. “I had my suspicions...I just chose to ignore the signs for too long.” She walked over to her bed and sat on the bed. “She’s been around a lot more. Asking him for help in all of our classes or extra attention during DA meetings. He kept swearing that there was nothing there, but I saw it.” Grace shook her head. 

Hermione sighed, the anger seeping out of her like water through a colander, and sat next to Grace. “Oh I’m so sorry, Grace.” She pulled Grace into a side hug.

“Really, it’s fine...I’m fine.” Grace didn’t even look up when there was a knock on the door. She could hear Harry’s muffled pleas to come in from the other side.

“How did he get up here?” Hermione asked quietly. Her anger was starting to build again.

“I found a loophole in the charm. He just has to wear something that belongs to me to get in.” Grace muttered.  
Hermione huffed and got up, storming towards the door. “Go away, Harry!” She shouted. “You are a disgrace and Grace never wants to see you again!”

He continued to beg until she ripped the door open with a dangerous glare directed right at him. “Don’t. Make. Me. Hurt. You...Get Out.” She spoke through gritted teeth and with a tone Harry had never heard from her. His shoulders slumped and he turned to leave.

Hermione closed the door to see that Grace had curled up under her blankets facing away from the door. She was resigned to deal with things in silence.

Over the next few days, Hermione was with Grace whenever she wasn’t in their dormitory and she blocked every attempt Harry made to speak with his presumably ex-girlfriend, but he was determined, and used the Marauder’s Map until he found Grace wandering alone.

He intercepted Grace in an empty corridor on the way to the library almost a week after her heart was broken.

Grace had been walking to the library, book in hand, when she looked up to make sure she had a clear path to continue and locked eyes with one Harry Potter. She had quickly closed her booked and pulled water from her hip canteen with an angry but slightly exhausted look on her face.

Harry raised his hands in surrender. “Grace please. I just want to talk and explain.” He sounded desperate, and after a moment, Grace sighed, put her water away, and nodded.

Harry dropped his shoulder and hands and walked towards her in relief. She frowned and stepped back when he tried to come closer than a few feet to her and it made Harry feel like he had been punched in the stomach. He stopped in his tracks and absorbed the look of hesitation in her eyes.

“Grace...first please let me say that I’m sorry. I should have believed you all those times that you said Cho was coming on to me.” Harry started. He watched Grace’s expression twist into one of pure confusion and he realized that she didn’t actually know what she had seen.

“Oh Grace. I swear that she took me by complete surprise with that kiss. She came in right after you left and started crying and telling me all of these things about her broken relationship with Cedric. She hugged me and was crying on my shoulder. And then she kissed me out of the blue. That’s when I realized you had returned. I pushed her off of me immediately. I swear I didn’t kiss her back for one second. I even told her off before I came running after you.”

Realization had slowly dawned over Grace’s face as Harry told his story. 

“She set the whole thing up...I bet she thought I would break up with you and she could swoop in and take you for herself...what a conniving bit-”

“So you believe me?” Harry cut in to which Grace nodded.

“Harry, I’m so sorry.” She closed the few feet of space between them. “I-I just believed what I saw without any context because of the way Cho had been pulling your attention the past month or so...I thought you might have been falling in love with her.” The confession sounded so stupid coming out of her mouth in his presence. Grace was embarrassed enough to have flushed cheeks.

Lucky for her, Harry just wanted to reassure her. “I swear to you, Grace. I would never do something like that. I would never intentionally hurt you.” He placed his sweaty, shaky, exceptionally soft hands on her cheeks and looked Grace straight in her beautiful brown eyes. “I love you. More than anything. I promise.”

Grace blinked quickly as she felt her eyes moisten with tears of relief and joy. Harry thumbed away the one tear that managed to escape and pulled Grace into a soft kiss. When the kiss broke, Grace wrapped her arms around Harry’s shoulders in a tight hug. “I love you too.” She mumbled into their embrace in the empty corridor, on the way to the library, in Hogwarts Castle.


End file.
